Beauty and a Stranger
by cbdivalove
Summary: What happens when the handsome stranger, Lord Charles, shows up at Waldorf Manor? Blair and Chuck in the Gothic style.


**I do not own Gossip Girl.**

The snow whirled itself in tiny maelstroms of white against the ebony sky as Lord Harold galloped home at half past ten. He could barely hear the clattering of his mare's hooves as they traversed the frozen earth against the roar of the bitter wind. Yet as the lights of his home, Waldorf Manor, whose glow he had not perceived in a fortnight, first became visible in the distance, the oppressive cold abruptly became inexplicably more frigid, and suddenly the roaring wind changed direction, striking the rider in the face and blowing his chestnut hair straight back in the wind. Lord Harold shivered in his furs and spurred his mount onward, hoping to expedite his return, but from the darkness, there appeared a rider on a black steed who cantered past followed closely by an airborne specter whose onyx cloak whipped about in the snarling wind. Lord Harold cast his eyes upon the wraith, his heart beat crescendoing, and then it was upon him, and the Lord's heart failed to beat again.

Lady Blair sat upon her window seat, gazing out onto the barren fields of Waldorf Manor blanketed in a thick coat of winter. As her finger followed the embroidery of the rich tapestry of wine and gold brocade that hung against the cool pane, Blair's eyes found the thick forest that bordered her family's lands to the east out from which ambled the carriage road, a pencil thin line from this distance. Immediately, the lady's throat closed and tears dropped from her warm, brown eyes to her petticoats as the thought of her father, Lord Harold, whose mysterious collapse on that same road exactly a year ago had brought such misery to her home and family, came to her mind. But a moment later, a light knock at her chamber door caused Blair to upset herself, wiping the tears from her slender cheek and signaling to her maid that the door be opened.

Perceiving the visitor, Blair immediately rushed up to him, crying, "Nathaniel, oh Nathaniel! My dear brother, what a perfect pleasure it is to see your face." Lord Nathaniel indulgently pulled his sister into his arms, crushing her to his strong body and spinning her around in a circle. The maids tittered at the impropriety of his actions, but neither sibling cared in the slightest.

Blair smiled jovially. "Now let me down so I may look at you."

"As you wish, sister" Nathaniel replied good-naturedly, placing the feather-light Blair down on her silken slippered feet.

Inspecting her brother's perfectly-coiffed officer's uniform from head to toe, Blair could find nothing the matter, so she signaled her approval and urged her brother to sit down to tea with her.

After they discussing his journey and her recent advances in her lessons, their discussion turned to the ball that was to be held that evening at which they would both play host. Nathaniel made Blair promise that she would save a waltz for him, and she consented, then glancing at the clock, she gasped and shooed Nathaniel out, laughing that she had to get herself ready and that she would see him when the guests arrived.

Hours later, Blair descended the staircase and walked into the capacious, magnificently decorated ballroom. All eyes followed her as she crossed the marble floors in her richly designed cream dress and signaled to the quintet to begin playing. Immediately a Lord came up to Blair and asked for the first dance, and she consented. As the pair whirled around the room with the other couples, the lights of the candelabras and the general splendor of the guests filled Blair's eyes with a marvelous vision of beauty that stayed with her throughout the dance. When the tune played its last sweet note, she curtsied, thanking her partner for the dance and turned to find Nathaniel, but her heart stopped when she saw, at the top of the staircase, a man with whom she was not acquainted.

He was tall, with dark hair that highlighted his dark eyes and strong cheekbones. He was dressed entirely in black and had a high collar that drew attention to his impossibly handsome countenance. Blair walked as if pulled by an inexorable invisible string towards the stranger, and he to her until they met at the foot of the stairs. He bowed to the Lady, and looked up at her through his nearly-onyx eyes, sending a thrilling leap through her heart. The stranger motioned for them to dance, and Blair allowed him to lead her out into the room where the next waltz was just starting.

As their feet moved in perfect harmony across shining floor, Blair's eyes never left those of the stranger as they weaved through the couples. She was entranced by his lovely face and the ease of his step, and he gazed at her in admiration and delight. Blair felt in that moment as though they were the only two people present in the ballroom, so captivated was she by the stranger's face.

When the dance ended and the couples ceased their movements, the stranger bowed to Blair, kissed her hand, and pronounced, "Forgive me, my lady. My name is Lord Charles Bass. I wished to introduce myself as soon as I entered, but your beauty rendered me speechless."

Blair blushed at Lord Charles' compliments and hurriedly introduced herself, giggling as an embarrassed schoolgirl does when called upon to give an answer of which she is ignorant. Yet Charles did not seem to mind, and upon his suggestion that they stay as partners for the next dance, Blair happily consented.

In fact, although as she was playing hostess that night it was terribly improper, Lady Blair danced every dance that evening with Lord Charles, so enchanted was she by his visage and charms, and evidently he so by hers. At the end of the evening, Charles kissed Blair's cheek, promising to call upon her within a fortnight, and Blair happily agreed, and rushed off to find Nathaniel to tell him of her amazing evening.

Upon finding him, Blair happily regaled Nathaniel about the lovely Lord Charles and what a pleasurable evening it had been, and after lightly scolding her for skipping their promised waltzed, Nathaniel asked, "But my Blair, from where does Lord Charles come? I have not heard mention of him in any of our neighboring households, nor have I met him in the army. Is he perhaps a visitor from another land?"

Puzzled by Nathaniel's question, Blair recollected that Charles had not told her from where he came, but casting it off as a trifling matter, Blair joked to Nathaniel that maybe Charles was simply a mysterious foreigner from whom she would never hear again. Although at first quizzical, Nathaniel took his sister's humorous tone as proof that she wished not to tarry on the subject, so he bid her a goodnight and walked off to his chamber.

Blair and her maid climbed the stairs to her chamber, quietly gossiping about the success of the ball, but out a high window in the darkness beyond, Blair spotted a rider crossing the fields to the forest. Squinting at the tiny figure far below, she thought she saw a flash of ebony, like a swooping bird, swirl around the rider, but in a moment it was gone, and Blair and the maid resumed their ascent, and by morning, all thoughts of the distant rider were gone, replaced by ever-growing, ardently passionate feelings for Charles.

For five days, Blair walked sullenly around the vast manor, half-heartedly attending to her duties and fervently wishing that Lord Charles would call. By the sixth day, she was inconsolable and even Nathaniel's promises that if Lord Charles did not appear soon, he would go to the neighboring estates to see if anyone knew of his whereabouts, could not lighten her mood. But finally, on the seventh day, Lord Charles arrived.

He promised Blair that he would stay for a month at Waldorf Manor, and as he and Blair strode about the castle and around the grounds, accompanied by Blair's maid, speaking of philosophy and art and the current state of affairs in the capital, Blair felt that each moment she fell more in love with Charles, and he with her. They dined together with Nathaniel and whoever had come during the day to visit at dinner and sat together in the drawing room well into the evening. Occasionally, Blair would play the spinet and sing for Charles, and when she did so, he would profess that her voice was the loveliest he had heard, and Blair would exclaim in her same, childish giggle that only Charles could inspire.

Blair was terribly delighted with Charles' visits, and her happiness lit up the cold walls of the manor, but inside its battlements, there was one who was not so pleased with the current climate. For his part, Nathaniel suspected that something was amiss with Lord Charles, the beautiful stranger who had appeared so unexpectedly and had seemingly stolen his sister's heart. He had trouble expressing to Blair what distinct characteristics of Charles' behavior disturbed him, but his general feeling was one of foreboding when his sister's love was near him. Yet she was not to be convinced and simply stated that Nathaniel's dislike for her suitor only stemmed from his desire to protect his sister, and although his wishes were admirable, she desired that he not get in the way of their happiness.

One day, Nathaniel had been out to hunt with his manservant and his dogs and was returning to Waldorf Manor late in the evening. He had been largely unsuccessful on the hunt and was simply hoping to reach home as quickly as possible, when suddenly a wind whipped up. Its howling frightening the dogs, causing them to bark and shy off the road. Against the darkening sky, Nathaniel saw a flying creature, its arms spread out, seeming to grasp for him in the air, and he felt the whoosh of a rider galloping past on his left. Tearing his eyes from the flying menace, Nathaniel glanced back at the rider, and for an instant he recognized the horse and demeanor of its rider, but the wraith was now upon him, and Nathaniel's heart, too, beat for the last time.

Blair was devastated. The loss of her father had torn her world apart, but to lose her brother in the same mysterious fashion so soon after left the Lady in a complete melancholic state. The mourners who came with conciliating words to offer their regrets at her brother's passing and to pass on benevolent wishes that she remain in good health and state of mind, simply reminded Blair of the kindness and genial qualities that both her father and her brother had possessed, and far from ameliorating her attitude, induced feelings of gloom and despondency all the more. The only one who could pull Blair from her misery was Charles, whose sweet, amiable words and gentle actions remained the single light in her miserable life.

Almost a year had passed since Nathaniel's death, and Lord Charles still had not left Waldorf Manor, much to Blair's delight. One evening as they sat by the fire and Blair read the day's headlines from the darkly inked newspaper, Charles reached over and put a finger against Blair's lips. Looking up, Blair's eyes filled with confusion turned to excitement and delight when she saw Charles take a knee in front of her. Grasping out to reach her hand, Charles stated in his strong voice, "My dearest Blair. Not a day goes by when I am not amazed by your grace and beauty. My time spent with you has been the happiest of my life, and it would make me a perfectly happy man if you consented to marry me."

Blair gasped as Charles pulled out an incredible diamond ring, and pulling him to his feet, Blair kissed Charles, and slid the ring onto her finger, struck by its beauty. Charles laughed, asking her if that meant yes, and she replied that of course it did.

For the next few months, Blair and the lovely lady of a neighboring estate planned for an extraordinary wedding reception that would take place following Blair and Charles' nuptials at the church where Blair was baptized. It was agreed that the couple would live at Waldorf Manor as Charles had explained that his family home was far to the north, an unsuitable climate for his lovely bride to be. The two were inseparable as the day approached, and Blair felt that the hole that had so cruelly been cut out of her heart by her brother's and father's passings would finally be filled by Charles and the family they would create together.

On the eve of the wedding, Blair bid Charles a goodnight, and walked to her chambers with her maid for the last time as she and Charles would be living in the master suite of the manor in the future. She was filled with joy and excitement for the coming day and was eager to sleep so that tomorrow could come, and so she hurried through her nightly washing, and rushed to bed. Blair easily fell asleep, but as the clock struck twelve she opened her eyes as the sound of her name echoing through the walls of her apartments filled the rooms. At once, there appeared two figures in the recesses of her chamber, at which Blair screamed and shut her eyes, hoping they were simply characters in a bad dream. But one of the specters began speaking, and as he continued, Blair recognized the voice of her beloved father, and opened her eyes to gaze upon his ghostly form.

"My dear daughter," the voice began. "What a pleasure it is to behold you once more, but in such a terrible situation I regret to say. Oh how I wish fate had not blown so horridly across your life's path, for you are on the verge of destruction!"

"But father, my dear father, how do you stand before me? What terrible creature was it that took you from me so many years ago? And of what danger do you speak?"

"My darling daughter, it was the one whom you love so dearly. The only one from whom your happiness grows. He destroyed me that day on the road and has enchanted you with his charms!"

"Surely you do not speak of Charles, my dear father! For he is the purest, most honorable man whom I have known! I beg you, speak not so!"  
Suddenly, the second specter stepped out of the shadows, and Blair recognized Nathaniel who now spoke with a quiver in his ghostly voice. "My dear sister, our father speaks the truth, for I was right in my suspicions. Charles is not the saint whom you perceive but a devil in disguise. It was he who killed me too, and yet he has hoodwinked you and stolen your heart. You must not go through with your marriage to him, for he simply seeks our family's wealth and will destroy you as he destroyed us."

Blair was now sobbing. She desperately wished that her father and brother were expelling ghostly falsehoods and wanted to ignore their pleas. The two specters re-expressed their concerns, leaving Blair even more desolate and bid her farewell, and Blair fell back into a restless sleep, in which she cried out for both her father and brother and for Charles.

When Blair awoke, the light of a new day, her wedding day, streamed in through the brocade. She had a vague memory of a dream in which her father and brother had appeared and had begged her not to marry Charles, but she put it off as pre-wedding nonsense hoping to forbear any unhappiness on her wedding day and called for her maids to ready her for the day.

Hours later, Blair was walking down the aisle of the exquisitely decorated church in a gorgeous white satin and brocade dress that highlighted her extraordinary beauty. She met Charles, who looked stunningly handsome in his wedding clothes, at the altar and before God the marriage was consecrated.

In the carriage from the church back to Waldorf Manor, Charles and Blair basked in their newly-wedded bliss, but for some reason upon which Blair could not place her metaphorical finger, Charles seemed to be acting strange, as though he had won a prize. When she mentioned this to her new husband, he whispered in her ear that he had won the greatest prize, her, and she nervously laughed back, feeling a little less apprehensive, but still anxious.

The reception was perfect, as it had been planned out with the greatest extravagances in mind. The newlyweds danced and danced around the room, enjoying the atmosphere and the joviality of the guests, then excusing themselves to return to their rooms and spend their first night as husband and wife. In their chambers, the pair parted ways to change for bed, but before they separated, Charles kissed Blair on the lips and whispered, "What a prize…" Then with one last gleaming look, Charles left, leaving Blair still more anxious.

She changed into her nightgown and walked to her vanity to take down her hair, but in the mirror she perceived Nathaniel's specter behind her who whispered, "Blair, now is your last chance, dear one! Run!" Blair was startled, but looking into her brother's solemn, ghostly eyes, remembering Charles' predatory looks all throughout the day, and his last words, Blair was suddenly filled with fright.

She dashed out of her chambers, brushing past her maid outside the door. Hurrying through the shadow-filled halls of the manor, her white nightgown rippling behind her and her feet alighting on the cool stone and rugs, Blair ran, for what she was beginning to suspect was her life, through her home. At the grand front door, she tugged to open the brass hinged wooden frame, but it would not budge. She began to run again, and suddenly she could hear the voice of Charles calling after her. "Blair!" the voice yelled, now a booming tone she had yet to hear from the throat of her beloved. "Come back my dear. Come back, for _I _shall not harm you!"

Blair continued to run, hoping to reach the battlements and climb out and wishing that her new husband meant no harm, but his loud, sinister tone convinced her otherwise. Dashing up the stairs she came to the tower for which she searched, but suddenly, an icy wind blew through her heart. Turning, Blair beheld her husband, dark eyes burning as embers do before they become dead coals, striding down the hallway, followed closely by a hooded, aerial figure. In that instant, Blair recognized that this wraith was the same she had beheld so many years ago when she had seen the rider and the dark flying bird in the fields. Dread filled Blair's heart as Charles advanced with the wraith as she had nowhere to run. Blair closed her eyes and thought of Nathaniel in what she knew would be her last moment, and as the wraith grew nearer, she knew it would bring death as soon as Charles ordered it to do so. Blair cried out for mercy, and pleaded with Charles as she cowered away from the wraith, calling upon her love for him, but he only laughed, pronouncing, "amor est infirmitate" and promising "your pretty face pales in comparison to the pretty penny you lay claim to. Goodbye sweet Blair!" And the wraith was upon her. Blair too felt her heart's last beat, and her body fell like a floating feather down from the battlements.

The next day the handsome stranger left Waldorf Manor with a sack of gold he had amassed in his hand and his monster at his side, ready to begin again.

xoxo Review babies!


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